Category: Events

YOU’RE INVITED! To a community forum to give us feedback. This forum is part of our strategic planning process, which began in August of this year. Through this process we hope to think critically about where we are, where we want to be, and how to get there. So far we have learned from community, via a survey, that folks would like us to be open more hours, have more diverse programming and events, and improve our outreach so that we have a larger presence in the community. At this community forum we’ll have questions about those topics and more.

This is a “drop-in” style event, so you can come at any point from 4:30-8PM to give feedback. There will be snacks and refreshments, along with a drawing for door prizes at the end! Prizes include a movie, free memberships, gift cards, and more!

Metered street parking is available, along with a limited number of free spots in the building’s small lot.

Join us for our next event! The top 5 most challenged books from 2016 were all challenged for their LGBTQ content, and all happened to be children’s books. In recognition of national Banned Book Week (Sept 24-30) we’ll spend time with an LGBTQ children’s book author from our own community here in Sacramento, Dr. Gayle Pitman, to disucss some of her books and the two times people have attempted to ban her book “This Day in June”–a children’s book about pride parades. The most recent attempt involved a library in Chicago and happened just this year. We’ll sit down with Dr. Pitman to discuss censorship, the politics of libraries, and the importance of LGBTQ children’s literature. And in light of the recent efforts at a school in Rocklin to ban books like “I am Jazz,” a children’s book about a young transgender girl, this conversation is quite appropriate!

There will be some light snacks and refreshments.

Metered street parking available, as well as limited free parking in the small parking lot for the building.

We’re very excited to announce a new series making use of materials in our library that many probably don’t even know we have! This new event series is devoted to the appreciation of LGBTQ erotica and sexuality. We approach each topic with theoretical lenses that are critical, queer, and campy. These events are strictly 18+

This installation (the inaugural one) is a discussion of gay erotic magazines from the 1960s to the 1990s. We’ll discuss their cultural importance and meaning. Dr. Tristan Josephson, Women’s Studies professor at Sacramento State, will be present to give scholarly analysis.

LLACE Creates is an art series that showcases local queer and trans artists. The July show was a great success. Thirteen artists were showcased, including works of a variety of mediums: paintings, drawings, collages, crafts, performances, poetry, sculptures, and more! And 80 people came through to view and interact with the works and the artists!

The August show will showcase 11 artists’ work across a variety of mediums. There will be snacks, refreshments, and plenty of opportunities to connect with community members. Come on out and meet us! The event happens on Sunday, August 13 1-5PM at the Lavender Library.

Our new discussion series, OurStories Round Tables, is hosting its first event on Friday July 28 from 7-8PM at the Lavender Library on 1414 21st Street. Dr. Paula Austin will lead a discussion on activist, legal scholar, and historian Pauli Murray (1910-1985). Dr. Austin teaches in Sacramento State’s History Department, and specializes in African American History, as well as urban, gender, and social history. She has done programming work with campus departments/centers like the MLK Jr. Center, PRIDE Center, and Women’s Resource Center, like a recent panel discussion on the history of queer women who rebel.

This first discussion will focus on Pauli Murray, who graduated from Howard University’s law school in 1944, was jailed in 1940 after refusing to sit in the back of a bus, and authored numerous books and essays on race, law, and civil rights. She also had a long friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt, along with many of the prominent Civil Rights leaders of the time period. Murray was also “gender nonconforming” and “masculine-of-center” performing, tried to obtain “male hormones” in the 1930s, and had many openly romantic relationships with women. Many have argued that these are some of the reasons Murray’s contributions have been erased from the narrative of the Civil Rights Movement.

While Dr. Austin will give a little context and will share some of what Murray accomplished across her lifetime, we invite attendees to read a little about Murray before the event. Below are a few resources you should check out!

Light snacks and refreshments will be provided. Metered street parking is available, and there are a few spots in the building’s small parking lot. Email the Library for more information: info@lavenderlibrary.com

Michael Helquist, journalist and historian, will visit the Lavender Library on Friday July 21, from 7-9PM to discuss his new book, Marie Equi: Radical Politics and Outlaw Passions. In his book, Helquist tells the story of how Equi fought for women’s and worker’s rights, sometimes literally—she once horsewhipped a school superintendent for withholding her girlfriend’s full pay. In the course of her fiercely independent life, Equi provided birth control and abortions at a time when they were illegal, was one of the first people in a same-sex relationship to adopt a child, and served time in San Quentin for protesting World War I.

Refreshments will be provided, and books will be available for purchase and signing. Metered street parking is available, along with a few free parking spots in the building’s small lot.

If you are interested in other books on LGBTQ history, check out our non-fiction section with works by other historians like George Chauncey and Susan Stryker.

For more information, email the Lavender Library at info@lavenderlibrary.com

Sacramento Pride is Saturday June 3, and we’ll be there! Find our table and come say hello. We’ll have books for sale (for suggested donation of $1 for paperbacks and $2 for hardbacks), a craft activity, and we’ll be selling memberships.